Frozen Mutant
by helen.firespirit
Summary: The King and Queen of Arrendale try to find someone - anyone - to help their daughter learn to control her powers. Be careful what you wish for, you may regret it.
1. Prologue

PROLOGUE

"Do you want to build a Snowman? It doesn't have to be a snowman." The excited little girl practically sang into the lock of her big sister's room, sure that her memories of fun times would mean that any minute now they would playing and laughing together.

"Go away Anna." Her excitement drained away as her little heart was shattered.

"Okay, Bye" Too young to even think to try to argue the matter, she meekly walked away.

{Inside the Room}

Inside, Elsa hugged herself. Even though her sister was fine, knowing that she couldn't properly remember their fun times together, or her powers, well to her it was like her real sister died. Now she was a danger, Elsa looking sadly at her hands like they had turned into daggers and were covered in blood. She shook her head in disbelief of what almost happened, and now she could never spend time with her sister again, could never enjoy her company again, or something worse might happen. All around her ice crystals grew like flowers.

{Back in Hall}

The King and Queen of Arrendale watched with sad and heavy hearts. The rock troll Elder saved their daughter's life, and he said he "saved the fun" but it didn't look to them like the fun had been saved. They certainly didn't want to argue with a child who could put ice in someone's head or heart that she should spend more time with her sister. Quietly they did what they could.

They sent out messengers as discreetly as they could, asking that anyone with any experience with unusual abilities contact them. Throughout Europe, and even to America they searched. They knew that sorcery was still much feared in their little corner of the world. Little did they know that elsewhere, they had a different name for it, that still carried just as much fear: mutant.

{Author's Note}

This came to me one night, and I already have more in mind after this. I mean obviously, but I need to watch X-Men First Class again because that's when I am setting it. If you remember the movie, even if they had phones and radios, it would not have been relevant to the story, and mountains are not kind to those old TV signals, so those would have been useless out there.

This is my first story and I only have a vague idea of who I want to have enter the story and where I want it to go. I welcome feedback of what you think should happen, just please don't be upset if it doesn't work with what I already have in mind.


	2. Chapter 1: Meet Olaf

A gentle knock on the door did not go unnoticed. "Elsa? May we come in?"

She opened the door slowly. Her blue eyes wide to see more than just her mother and father. "Olaf!" She hugged his legs and in her excitement a layer of frost quickly spread across the back of his coat where she grabbed him.

"Elsa darling!" He tried to laugh it off, but he was clearly uncomfortable as he moved quickly by the fire to warm himself. She jumped back a few steps, alarmed by what happened. "Don't worry my pet. No harm done." His big goofy grin, dancing eyes, and recessive chin had gone into the last snowman she had made for her sister, and Anna's excited description of what she thought had occurred while playing with her sister outside made the dumpy old bureaucrat smile. The frost melted quickly leaving a wet spot, and he knelt on one knee to get on her level, holding his arms wide "I like warm hugs, and your hugs are always warm to me." He smiled but she hung back, holding her father's leg. Her mother had the same look of maternal concern bordering on worry that she always wore these days. The king cleared his throat.

Olaf dropped his arms, and sighed but strained to keep his smile for Elsa's sake. "That's alright. I'm going to be going away for a while. I hope to find someone to help you."

"Help me control my powers?" She stated with a desperate eagerness. "Can you do that?"

He saw now why the King and Queen were less than eager for him to have this little interview before leaving. He knew well enough from experience that kids do not react well to have people disappear from their lives, and this little girl especially was still reeling from a near disaster of an experience, but now he saw that it was not the separation they hoped to spare her from but the unrealistic expectation of a miracle.

"I will try my little snow fairy." A once welcome pet name now caused her to wince. He sighed sadly. "I can make no promises, but if I do find such a person, what would you like me to tell them."

"Please hurry."

{Author's Notes}

OMG! I have followers? Wow, when did that happen? *Squeal of Happy Excitement*

Apparently the alerts that were being sent to my email kept getting dumped in the spam folder so I really didn't know until yesterday. I have the movie X-Men First Class that I plan to use for the X-Men side of things, but I'm a horrible procrastinator when it comes to doing stuff like watching a movie for the necessary reference points. I have a few scenes and the barest idea of a plot that will probably not be very long, but decent enough for a first fic. I do rough drafts in my head all the time for crossovers and alternate universes where changing one decision changes everything. Right now this is more of a what you didn't see between scenes in the movie kind of crossover story. The next update should not take nearly as long now that I know that I have readers. Wow that feels so cool to say! I have readers! :D

Also, this was going to be longer but I decided to go ahead of upload. Mutants will finally show up next chapter.


	3. Chapter 2: Meet Erik

{Inside the King of Arendelle's private drawing room}

The hour is late, and a fire throws shadows across the room. Olaf closes the door to give them privacy as the King states "You said you had news for me. Have you found someone who can help us?"

"Perhaps, your Grace. He lives in America. I heard of him through some of my diplomatic contacts. He is currently working for the United States Central Intelligence Agency, but he is not technically with them."

"Tell me about him."

"His name is Charles Xavier. Background check is... ideal. Well educated and clean cut young man. He has Ph.D.s in Genetics, Biophysics, and Psychology. His thesis was on genetic mutation, and while he didn't say anything directly to the fact, there was much to be assumed by what he did say about evolution and how humans are continuing to evolve."

"Interesting. And what makes you think he'll be able to help Elsa?" King Agdar looks concerned on a picture of his two daughters, stroking the frame.

"Well from what I gather, he is currently seeking out people with powers. Mutants. They are mostly young adults, but they all have powers themselves."

He looked from the picture as though suddenly aware of what Olaf was telling him. "More? There are others like Elsa? That can freeze things?"

"I don't know. All I know is that the people with whom I spoke were not complimentary. They spoke of mutants in a similar way to how the people of the southern part of the United States refer to people whose ancestors come from the African continent."

King Adgar frowned at this. Through all the diplomatic turn of phrase, he could see what that meant.

"Sire, I think it best that we don't mention your relationship with Elsa. I will only tell him that our government has a young girl in its care with extraordinary abilities and is in need of a special kind of teacher. Perhaps I can persuade him."

"But if he's already gathering people to him-"

Olaf cut him off, "Let me try."

{Several days later}

Olaf looked down at the picture, then up at the nearly destroyed building in front of him. No one was here. Had the disagreement between the United States government and Russia really escalated this far? He had not heard of any of this.

A large truck pulled up, and one of the men that stepped out matched the picture in his hand. He turned to the others with him while walking towards Olaf, "Follow Hank and retrieve all the equipment you can. Don't worry about this man. He's not here to harm anyone. Are you, Mr Olaf Svenson?"

Olaf was taken aback by this, "How? Who told you I was coming?" He smiled at the thoroughness of the American intelligence system. He tried to at least give a semi-plausible reason for being in the area. The young man seemed to momentarily develop a headache as he put two fingers to his temple.

"Oh, no one." Charles remarked off handedly. "Erik, will you come over here please." Erik Lehnsherr walked over to stand beside his friend. Raven stopped and stared, clearly wanting to join them as well. "Go help the others Raven. This won't take long." Huffing at being dismissed, she walked away.

"Erik, this is Olaf. He's here to ask for help." He looked between the two, and then back at the obviously distracted moving men. His heavy accent to untrained ears sounded very close to Russian, making many of the moving assistants nervous. "Perhaps we should discuss this somewhere a little more private."

Olaf was becoming a little more impressed by the American intelligence system, and a little worried at how good they were, "Ja, that would be gut."

{In the least destroyed conference room they can find of the now deserted secret facility}

Charles started, "My name is Charles Xavier, and this is my friend Erik Lehnsherr. Whatever you need to say, you can say in front of him, alright?"

When Olaf seemed reluctant, Charles coaxed him to speak, "Go ahead Olaf, it's ok to talk here." Olaf felt himself hesitate for many reasons, partly because even as he felt excited to finally find someone, he was also aware, and nervous of the fact, that he could be so close and still not be chasing the right person, partly because this was out of his usual realm of negotiations. Treaties of trade, alliances and border crossings he could deal with easily. Something as personal as someone to help out a little girl he always thought of as a niece was another matter.

"I'm here on behalf of my government to seek someone to help us. The matter is a small child, a girl, desperately in need of some guidance."

Erik blurted out without thinking, "We aren't a tutoring service. Charles, are you sure we aren't just wasting our time here?"

"This child, she is a, how you say, wunderkind." Olaf tried to say, hoping they would understand.

After a brief pause by everyone, Erik asked "How so?"

"Well, you see, she has abilities, powers you might say." Olaf stumbled over the words, not sure how to explain it.

Charles for his part looked more and more excited. This was the first time someone was seeking him out for help with a mutant and it was exciting.

"What can she do?" He asked.

"She can... She freezes things. She makes ice." He braced himself for some drastic change in their demeanor, to scoff at him or demand he leave as most of those he had talked to in Europe had done, when they didn't, words started to rush out of him, "She can't control it right now, and it's very important that she learn how. She has unintentionally hurt one person already, and it's very important to.. my government.. that she learn." Even though it was his own idea not to indicate her relationship to the royal family, he still felt a little like he was betraying them. "Please, her powers are amazing."

Charles was smiling, "Truly fascinating. You are right, she does need to learn control, especially if she's already hurt someone, but... " He indicated to Erik to do something as he spoke, "She's not the only one." Erik took a small piece of a metal wall, picked it up with his powers and fused it back into place.

"Amazing!" Olaf said.

_And that's not all. _Charles spoke telepathically.

Olaf did not react well to that, "What did you do? How did you do that?" He stumbled over the chair to back away from Charles.

Both young men stood up, arms outstretched to reassure him, "Calm down Olaf. That's just my ability. I can read thoughts and talk to people's minds."

Erik put in his two cents. "It's alright Olaf. He's never used it to hurt or manipulate anyone."

Olaf still visibly upset spat back "But how would you know?" Stories ran through his head, how the Nazis must have used mind control powers on King Haakon VII to make him abandon his people and on Vidkun Quisling for paving the way for the Nazi occupation. Vidkun he never really trusted, but for Haakon to flee to Britain the way he did, Olaf needed to believe that some outside force made him do it.

"I'm not like them!" Charles said sharply.

"How? How did you know what I was thinking unless you INVADED my mind!" He angrily spat out the word, still shaken.

"I didn't have to, you were thinking it so loud, it's like you were shouting it at me." He sounded more and more defeated because he knew now that this man would have a difficult time ever trusting him. As a last resort, he said "Think of Elsa."

For a moment he seemed to consider, here was someone willing to help him, willing to help her. Then something stuck out to him, something very wrong, but instead of being hotheaded, he spoke coldly, "I never told you her name."

Charles sighed. He'd been hearing her name over and over through his thoughts as Olaf described her powers that it completely slipped by him that the old man really hadn't said her name out loud.

"I will go." Erik spoke up. "I will try to help her."

Charles looked at him hopefully, "Are you sure?"

"Ja." He said looking to Olaf who was visibly relaxing to the idea that this whole trip was not in vain, then back to Charles. "You have to get everyone set up in that big house of yours. I'll try not be gone too long, but I must help her, if I can."

_very important... to my government_ Erik thought to himself, keeping his thoughts and feelings under tight control so as not to give Charles any reason to scan him. He had been "very important" to someone's government once as well. He didn't know if he could actually help her control her powers, but he felt obligated to at least see for himself what this old man meant by "very important".

"Werden Sie mich akzeptieren" Erik asked of Olaf, Will you accept me.

Olaf seeing either this man or a much longer search that may well prove fruitless answered "Ja"

{Author's Notes}

I had an interesting review recently that questioned my inclusion of Olaf in this story. If you can't tell by now, he's not a snowman. I personally was kind of put off by Disney's reliance on the buffoonish clown as comedy relief, as well as the animal who is not a dog acting like one, but at least the snowman part made sense to me if what she created was from her subconscious; a child's memory of a real person who was enough of a family friend to be like an uncle, but not around long enough to leave a good impression of his real personality, so in their playtime they recreated him in the way that children will of any family member that is not seen very often. Hope that explains things.

Also it's been speculated that Arendelle is in Norway, and even though there's a city by that name in a very convenient place for other theories tying together Frozen and the movie Tangled, that place doesn't appear to have the mountains required for the movie itself, but what the hay, they got mountains like that somewhere in Norway, right? Olaf is speaking German because as a diplomat of that area, I assumed it was a language he would use almost more often than his native tongue, and of course it's Erik's first language. I just did a little research of the Nazi occupation of Norway to find the names.

If the German is not correct, I don't speak it, I just used Google Translate.


	4. Chapter 3: Erik Meets Elsa

**Erik Meet Elsa.**

After their meeting, Olaf and Erik flew most of the way by private plane, but had to finish their journey by boat to the fjord of Arendelle.

Standing at the edge of the old wooden craft, Erik took in the gently cool breezes, the sounds of the birds, the generally relaxed atmosphere of the beautiful little town. It was almost nostalgic for him, a small town so like the one he grew up in, or at least much closer than the modern cities and impersonal government places he found himself recently. Even Charles's house, better to call it a mansion, was still very British compared to the Germanic architecture of Arendelle. He turned to see the ambassador join him in a viewing of the approaching castle. "Tell me Olaf, why are there no roads to Arendelle."

"Oh, there are, but they are not accessible to cars. They are extremely uncomfortable by carriage, at least to my old bones, and actually slower than by boat. The harsh winters here, you see, mean that roads fit for cars are too expensive to build and maintain, not to mention the mountains would require a very long route to get anywhere." He shrugged. "No point really."

As the boat slid up next to the dock with a ease that spoke of much practice, a portly gentleman could be seen standing at attention, his round stomach protruding forward. "Welcome back Sir Olaf."

"Thank you Kai" Olaf took his offered hand of support in disembarking, but Erik waved off. "Are the King and Queen informed of my arrival?"

"Runners have been sent ahead. Is this the young man you hoped to find?" Kai asked expectantly of Erik.

Olaf appeared uncomfortable for a moment as he deferred, "No, Charles was unavailable to come. This is his associate, Erik."

"Guten Tag." Erik said with a small bow. "I hope to be of assistance." He looked around, taking in the idyllic scenery. "You have a beautiful town, one I would love to see more of, but before that perhaps I should meet with Elsa?"

Now it was Kai's turn to feel uncomfortable. He knew the plan to keep Elsa's parentage a secret for now, but he very much wasn't comfortable with it. He gestured toward the castle, "She would be in her room right now, but I believe the King would like to have a word with you first."

Erik nodded and indicated that the trusted attache should lead the way. As they approached the castle doors, Olaf became more and more visibly distraught. Just outside the doors, Olaf took hold of Erik's arm, stopping them both. Kai stopped, expecting to wait patiently, but left when Olaf waved him off.

"Look, Erik. I would like to speak with the King alone for a moment. He was expecting me to bring Charles, and I would like a chance to talk to explain the changes."

Erik frowned at this but said nothing, thinking only of how Olaf reacted to Charles' telepathy back in the States. Seeing this reaction, Olaf added, "I won't say anything bad about your friend. I would just like to avoid surprises. If you could wait in the lobby once we enter, I will get him, ja?"

Erik nodded, "of course. As you see fit."

{Olaf's meeting with the King}

In the same drawing room of their last meeting, this time it was King Agdar who entered to Olaf waiting while tending the fire to a warmer state. He stood to a quick bow. "My Liege."

"Tell me of this young man you brought with you. Kai told me he is not the man we were hoping for. Was Charles not willing to come himself?"

Olaf fidgeted as he tried to compose how to explain. "Charles was -. I met Charles and he seemed alright at first, but he did not seem -. He's just not a good fit to teach -"

"Olaf, I know you better than this. Something has upset you. What is it?"

"Charles read my mind, it frightened me." King Agdar nodded. No one wanted to bring up stories of the Nazis and their supposed magic powers. The horrible things Hydra was supposed to have done.

King Agdar sighed, putting that aside in his mind to deal better with the present. "Well then, tell me about who you have brought."

"His name is Erik Lehnsherr. He seems to be a good choice at teaching her to control her abilities, his own ability to manipulate metal is very similar. However, he himself should not be left alone with her. While he was preparing to depart, I made a few discreet inquiries about him. He is suspected in some peculiar accidents involving expatriates of Germany."

"Do you think these expatriates knew something about him? Something he wants kept silent?" King Agdar was quite alarmed to think the man who was entrusted with his daughter could be so dangerous.

"I don't know anything like that, but if it is true, and we can't be certain is it, then it is clear he has an agenda. We don't know what it is, and I believe it would put Elsa and you in peril for him to know about your relationship. He might try to use her against you."

"Then we look for someone else to help us."

"There is no one else. Believe me, I tried. She needs to control her power and he can help. Let's just not tell him anything we may regret later. I'll keep looking into the matter, see what else I can find out about him. For now, we shall just have to keep a close eye on him."

{Erik meets Anna}

Standing in the entryway, with no where to sit, Erik looked around at the simply but relatively lavish decor. He became aware of a small noise behind him. A small pet perhaps? He turned around and saw the big eyes and strawberry blond pigtails of a very young girl peeking around a wall.

He smiled as nonthreatening as he could. She still seemed to shy back a little, but only a little. "Who are you?" She asked somewhat timidly.

"My name is Erik, leibchen. Who are you?"

"I'm Anna." She answered simply and then resumed staring.

"Ah. Well I am here to see Elsa. Do you know where she is?"

"Of course I do. She's in her room. She never leaves there."

Erik pondered this for a moment. He could understand if she has already hurt one person that they would keep a close eye on her, but to keep her locked up.

After a moment's pause, Anna asked, "Why are you here to see her?"

"I'm here to help her. I'm going to teach her-"

Anna interrupted, "Like my dance tutor teaches me?" She sounded excited. "What are you going to teach her?"

"Ah, Erik!" The name was nearly shouted from up the stairs and down one hall.

"Uncle Olaf!" Anna exclaimed and ran to hug the man she held in such high regard. The man looked a little out of breath, clearly used to taking his time but in this instance, he seemed to feel the need to stop the conversation. Did he not yet trust Erik alone with young relatives or did he not like the questions he was being asked?

"This is Erik. He says he's going to teach Elsa. Is she going to learn dancing too?" Erik and Olaf both smiled at her simple and innocent assumptions.

Olaf spoke, "No my dear, not dancing, but yes he is going to tutor her." He leaned down to squeeze her gently in a hug. "It is good to see you too child but run along now. I'm going to introduce Erik to Elsa."

"Really? Can I come too?" She hopped from foot to foot. Elsa hadn't played with her or even talked to her in so long, she would grab at any chance she saw to see her sister.

"No my dear, you can't come. Now please, run along." Olaf patted her back toward the library and away from the hall where their bedrooms faced each other.

{Erik meets the King}

Olaf knocked on the door by way of announcement, and then opened the door. The King stood by the window, looking out at the small town that was the center of his kingdom. He turned to face the two men as they entered.

"Sire, this is Erik Lehnsherr, associate of Charles Xavier. Erik, I am pleased to introduce King Agdar of Arendelle."

Erik executed a respectful short bow. "Your majesty. I hope I can be of assistance."

"As do I." King Agdar looked from him to Olaf and back again. He sighed and looked down, "In truth, I worry for her. She has never hurt anyone with her powers before and it seems to have made it even harder for her to control them." He seemed to think for a minute and then looked at Erik, "Olaf tells me you have powers too. Would you demonstrate them for me?"

Erik tilted his head and looked around the room. He noticed the fire was a bit low and room starting to become chilly as a stiff breeze coming down from the mountains rattled the window. Without taking a step, he pointed and the metal poker and tongs moved. the poker stirred the fire to bring glowing coals to the surface while the tongs grabbed a few small and medium sized branches from the top of the wood pile and carried them into the fireplace, dropping them on top. Both instruments rearranged the wood until the flames started to catch on the new wood, and then floated back to their place.

Olaf and the King stared the whole time. "Impressive. But I must ask, why not just move the wood itself if you have telekinesis."

Erik made a soft chortle, "I don't sire. I can only move metal."

"I see. Then how do you propose to help Elsa learn to control ice."

"With practice. I hope not to utilize any of the techniques used in teaching me. Trust me you don't want to know."

The King interrupted, "But I do." He said almost forcefully.

Erik sighed, "The men who _taught_ me were not nice people, and I have seen that one does not need to resort to such methods to still learn control."

"But your powers are so different from hers."

"I can move metal and shape it, I can even stop bullets. I will try to help her learn such control. A baby begins by banging something with a fist long before he learns to gently pick it up. Anything that has happened is not because this child is evil but only because she does not have the ability to use it with finesse."

The King pondered this a moment and then Erik added, "May I meet with her alone, please?"

The King's eyes narrowed in disapproval. "I do not think that would be prudent."

{Anna changes her mind}

Sadly walking to the library, she pondered the start of another boring day with no one to play with and nothing to do except the homework provided by her tutors. Dancing was the only thing she really enjoyed, and he wouldn't come back for at least three more days. Ugh.

Well, if they were going to see Elsa, maybe she couldn't come in, but she could at least say hi and wave from outside.

Having thought this, she brightened up and skipped back the way she came.

{Erik meets Elsa}

*Knock, Knock*

"Elsa, may we come in?" King Agdar asked to the door. It opened and a child not much older than Anna answered. Her pale blue eyes shone big and fearfully hopeful at someone she'd never seen before. "Olaf has returned Elsa, and he's brought someone to help you." He stepped in the door and out of the way for Olaf and Erik to enter.

Olaf knelt down to talk to Elsa on her level. "Elsa, this is Erik. He's agreed to help you."

She looked up at the man who appeared to be about Kai's age, though obviously in much better shape. Slicked hair and blue eyes, Erik clumsily tried to kneel down as well, but decided it would be too awkward, so instead he slouched down, which from Elsa's point of view made him look more like a bear, and his smile made him just look hungry. She hung back from him and quietly said "Nice to meet you Erik."

"Nice to meet you too, Elsa." Erik was looking at her and thinking this must be the youngest mutant he's ever met. When he was told young girl, somehow it never registered that she could possibly be this young. "So I'm told that you have powers."

Erik was interrupted by a cheerful Anna standing outside the door way, breathless and trying to whisper as though no one else could hear, "Elsa! Psst. Elsa!" She waved enthusiastically from the hallway at Elsa who looked startled at her. She looked from Anna to the King, back to Anna, and then looked down at the floor almost as though struck. Erik followed her eyes and saw the King looking very upset at Anna.

"Anna." Olaf stated sadly, trying to wave her off, wishing her somewhere else with the discussion of 'powers' going on.

"Anna!" King Agdar said sharply, walking towards her, "You shouldn't be here right now. Please, come with me."

Olaf rose to his feet and looked at Elsa then Erik, then followed Anna and her father down the hall. "You Grace," he started but soon was out of earshot.

Erik sighed and moved himself to sit in a chair, to get more on Elsa's level. Whatever was going on with Anna was not his problem, but the way Elsa reacted to everything did not speak well of her experiences living here. "I have powers too."

Elsa looked very surprised by this. "You do?"

Erik nodded. "If you show me yours, I'll show you mine." She winced and looked away. Clearly whatever had happened scared her badly. "Look. Let me show you what I can do."

Looking around the room, he didn't see anything out in the open that he could use his powers on. The fireplace didn't have tools by it. Presumably, a servant would come by to do that. The few toys he saw were wood, and while the door handle was metal, he didn't think that closing the door while he was alone with her would go over well with the King or Olaf. Instead he reached in his pocket and pulled out a special coin that he carried with him all the time.

Elsa stared with wonder and amazement. "Woah!"

He floated it above his palm, then went through what he practiced regularly, spinning it around his fingers. His thoughts began to stray. Shaw would be so much closer from here, and Xavier wasn't around to stop him. Settling the young mutants in at his place would take a while, and it was painfully obvious that he needed to spend time with them honing their natural abilities before they would do any good against Shaw. Here he had time to hunt alone again. Time to strike. He flattened his hand, intending to send the coin flying off when his eyes focused on the child in front of him. He hastily grabbed it out of the air before it could shoot off like a bullet from a rail gun.

His heart raced and his adrenaline surged at the mistake that almost happened. Elsa was blessedly oblivious. He took a few deep breaths, putting the coin back in his pocket. "That was amazing." Her eyes started to mist over and her breath came in short gasps as long suppressed feelings started to be released. "I thought... I thought I was the only one. I thought I was alone."

Erik looked at her, remembering when he said those same words quite recently. He smiled a genuine smile and put on hand her on shoulder. "You're not alone. There are many of us and you are NOT alone."

{Author's Notes}

Several things that I wrote to happen in this chapter got pushed off into the next one. For me, writing is like putting a puzzle together while still drawing the incomplete pictures on each piece. Plus I needed them to hide the fact that Elsa is a princess for a crucial scene coming up later, next chapter or the one after. I was and to some extent still am, not happy with the talk between Olaf and the King (I really wish that guy had a name but I can't think of one, and even if I did, it's kinda late in the story to add now.) UPDATE. I found on the Disney Wiki page that he does have a name! and I'm currently updating this chapter and the previous one to reflect that.

Hydra. X-Men is the Marvel Universe. They do technically all exist together.

Erik taught himself the finesse of metal-bending with the single minded focus of wanting to drive a coin through Sebastian Shaw's head. I call it metal bending because in the movies I've seen and comic books I've read, it's more like the element benders of the nickelodeon show Avatar the Last Airbender.


	5. Chapter 4: Training Elsa

REVIEWS ARE LIKE CANDY. SWEET EGO BOOSTING CANDY. :D

Erik sat in the room they provided him. He was starting to feel a little overwhelmed. Olaf had come running back very quickly and ushered him off to his room. He really had no idea how he was going to train a little girl like that, one much younger than he was expecting. He was even starting to wonder if Charles had somehow manipulated him into volunteering when it became clear that Charles's telepathy was too much for the aging diplomat to handle. Thinking back, he knew that wasn't the case.

_it's very important to.. my government.._

That was the line that caught his attention and alarmed him to his soul that another mutant might be held against her will because someone in power wanted to abuse the gifts of a young child. He still wasn't sure what to make of the situation. This was obviously no Auschwitz, but a gilded cage was still a cage, and there had been no mention of her parents. He wanted to be sure before he did anything, but what to do in the meantime. Thoughts of Schmidt, or Shaw, or whatever the monster named himself lately, being so much closer here, was a distraction he could scarcely afford. The other mutants were training, and even the Soviet political machine took months to accomplish anything. Even Shaw's particular kind of motivation could speed it up only so much.

Even though he'd met Elsa, he still needed to be sure that she wasn't in any danger, and at least try to do what he said he would do, only now he was even less sure how to do it. How do you talk to a 9 year old girl, let alone train her? It wasn't until he accidentally brought up the unpleasant circumstances how he had been trained that he realized he didn't know what he was doing. Well, thinking about how a baby learns fine motor control was a good start. Pick a target and focus. He looked at the elaborate metal utensils on the tray they had used to bring him his breakfast. He had an idea how to start.

A knock on the door, followed by Olaf announcing himself as he entered prompted Erik to stand quickly, sliding the utensils in his pocket.

"Are you ready?" the old diplomat asked.

"Of course." He smiled in a way that anyone who knew him wouldn't trust. "I'm here to help."

{In Elsa's Room}

Olaf sat in a chair near the fire. He made it clear that he didn't intend to leave them alone, making it impossible for Erik to ask what he really wanted to know, and Elsa could pick up on the tension in the room.

"If you fear your powers, they will always control you."

"But how can I not be afraid?" She pleaded.

"Have you always been afraid?" Erik tried sitting on the floor with his back to Olaf.

"uh-uh" She shook her head no.

"Think back, Elsa. I know something happened. Something bad."

Elsa started breathing faster, more shallow, her emotional state deteriorating rapidly and the frost spreading from her feet growing faster. Just as Olaf was about to intervene, Erik spoke up.

"No, no, no. No, no, no. Shhhh... Shhhhh..." He reached out one hand to stroke her shoulder very gently. "Don't think about the bad thing. Think about before. You had powers, and you used them but no one was hurt, so you were not afraid. What did you do? How did you use them? How did you feel? Close your eyes and think about it."

Elsa closed her eyes, and her breathing slowed as she thought back and remembered. She always loved her sister calling them "tickle bumps". The indoor snow fall was the best release of her powers fueled by pure simple joy. Always in her thoughts was her sister's laughter. The frost around them both started to recede.

"Keep your eyes closed, and try to do it again. What did you do?"

Elsa started swirling her hands around forming the glowing snowball, her mind playing through the scene of love and fun. The memory played through and she felt herself slipping on the ice again, her sister hanging in the air, much too high to land safely without snow under her. Elsa's face scrunched up to an expression of pain and fear, her eyes still closed.

Olaf noticed this, leaning forward in his chair, "Elsa!"

Her eyes opened, and she threw the growing snowball forward. It hit the fireplace next to Olaf, filling it with snow and instantly smothering the fire. Both men couldn't help but jump at such a display of power and instant change in temperature.

"Elsa!" Olaf said again, his voice full of concern, but to a child, also full of rebuke.

She got up from next to Erik and ran to the other side of her bed. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Erik first turned and held his hand up, "Olaf, please."  
Then he turned to Elsa, "You did fine, Elsa. Really, I understand."  
Looking over his shoulder with an accusatory glance he added, "You were distracted."

Olaf scowled at Erik but said nothing.

"Please, Elsa. You were doing really good. Can you come out and try again? Please?"

"No! I'll hurt you! Please just go away."

Olaf sighed and stood to leave, so accustomed to following orders.

"We shall try again later, Erik."

Erik made no motion to get up off the floor. "And leave her like this? You go. I will stay."

Olaf was affronted, "She requested us to leave, and we shall leave. We shall not stay here and make her obey like an animal."

Erik did stand then, and as he was about to respond heatedly, he looked over at Elsa, her back to them, curled up next to the bed. "Elsa, I will be waiting right outside by the door when you are ready. I want to help you Elsa, I do, but to do that we have to keep trying."

Erik moved out of the room like the headwind of storm. Olaf gently followed, closing the door with almost no sound. Erik stood by the door, and to his disappointment, Olaf stood across from him in the hall.

After a few minutes, Erik asked him, "don't you have anything else to be doing?"

"That girl is my first priority right now." Somehow Erik wasn't reassured.

Elsa shivered in her room, fearful of the fact that she almost struck Olaf too. In her mind, control meant to lock it up so it couldn't hurt anyone, not actually using her powers. While she wouldn't have thought of it in these terms, what she really wanted was to be normal, like everyone else. She thought about how close she came to hurting Olaf, and she thought about Erik's words. He really did seem to want to help.

Slowly she shuffled across the room and quietly opened the door.

"Okay, I think I'm ready to try again."

"Excellent" Olaf moved to re-enter the room.

"No" Elsa said sharply, holding up her hand to stop him, then hugging her hand to her like she'd done something wrong. "No. Just - just Erik."

"Elsa" Olaf's voice was full of hurt. It had never occurred to him that Elsa herself would get the idea in her head to be alone with Erik. He couldn't think of how to tell her without bluntly stating in front of Erik that they didn't fully trust him enough to be alone with her.

"Please Olaf, I don't want to hurt you. I need to learn how to control this."

Erik's smile was painfully close to smug without really showing it. "And you will." He entered Elsa's room, closing the door behind him.

Olaf spoke through the door, "I'll be right here, Elsa."

Sitting back on the floor, Erik said, "Let's try again, but this time keep your eyes open, focused on what you are doing, okay?" Elsa nodded. Erik continued, "you moved your hands like this?" He swirled his hands around each other. "And the most beautiful thing started to grow. It was glowing."

Elsa knew that's what happened but to hear someone describe it with awe, and not be her sister, made her feel warm inside.

"Okay" She said, and started to do it again. Her whole focus was on her hands, the small super compact ball of snow, shimmering with power, growing ever larger until it was finally ready to burst apart at the seams. She threw it up in the air, and then realized just how small her room was as it hit the much lower ceiling and a dense shower of snow blanketed her room, matching the fireplace.

Erik was covered in snow, and unlike Elsa, was probably very cold from it. "I'm sorry" she started again, her anxiety building, "I didn't realize how much smaller this room is, I'm so sorry." She stopped to hear the sound bubbling out of him.

Soon his chuckling became a full body laugh. "Elsa, this is amazing!" He said, throwing snow around trying to get it off his back, legs and head, "Truly, you are an amazing little girl."

Her anxiety melted and she started chuckling, and then laughing herself. After a while her laughter calmed to a smile, and then she looked around her room. Her smiled disappeared. "But I made another mess again. Everything will get wet and need to be washed and dried." Her words took on the worn out frustration of someone accustomed to unpleasant necessities.

Erik looked around and had a thought. He got up and opened the door, "Olaf, we need tools for the fireplace, more wood, and a large kettle."

"A kettle? But there is no crane in her fireplace." Olaf protested.

"Then bring one."

"And who will install it?"

Erik's look could best be summed up as very similar to one that Sven gave at the end of Frozen when dense Kristoff insisted that Anna was with her "true love".

"Just bring it, and I will take care of it." He closed the door.

Olaf stood blankly for a minute. This was even worse. Leaving would mean not even being about listen at the door, and they would be truly alone together. Well, it wouldn't be for very long, he reasoned, and started at a brisk walk to get Kai to help.

Inside the room, Erik smirked at how easy it was to get the old man away from the door, but really he did need those things. He turned back to Elsa. "Let me show you something." He took out the utensils he had been hiding in his pocket. He seemed to press them like they were made of playdough and formed them around his hands like gloves. Then used his powers to float them off his hands and used them to scoop up a small pile of snow. He pressed it into a ball himself, and then smiling, gently used the metal gloves to throw the snowball at Elsa.

Elsa had been so enchanted by the floating metal hands that she didn't even realize what they were doing until she got a face full of her own snow. "Pah!" She wiped her face off with both hands, and looked at Erik, smiling with mischief. She smiled back and started gathering up snow herself, even as his "hands" were starting on another snowball.

After a few minutes of snowball throwing, Erik realized his chance to talk unobserved was slipping away.

"Elsa?" He asked as she was forming her next snowball.

"Hmm?" She didn't even look up.

"Are you happy here?" She stopped, but didn't look up. "I mean do you feel safe? Do they treat you well?"

She dropped the snowball and answered without looking up. "Why are you asking that?"

"I'm worried about you. They never let you leave this room. I'm worried because when I was a child someone hurt me and I don't want to see you hurt."

"They aren't hurting me. I hurt them." She was starting to shake. "You don't know what it's like!" She gestured with her hand to the fireplace and ice spikes shot out of the stone. Seeing this, she stopped talking and hid behind the bed again.

"Elsa" Erik stood up and started to break off icicles, first with his hands, and as they grew too cold, with his powers manipulating the metal hands. "It's not your fault. You are still growing, and your powers are too. Really liebschen, it's not your fault." He looked around the room. The warmth left in the room from before the fire went out and the warmth circulating under the door was turning part of the snow into slush.

"Can you help me clean up?"

"I'll only make it worse." She said, her face in her arms.

"If you make it freeze again, it will take longer to melt, and we can clean it up before there is a big wet mess." He reasoned gently.

She thought about it a moment, then said "I'll just make more snow on top of that!"

"Can you try? I just want you to try." Erik said over his shoulder, continuing to break off icicles and setting them in a pile by the fireplace. They looked a stack of clear wood waiting to be burned. Elsa saw this and smiled.

"Alright." She started with touching the floor and sending a layer of frost under the snow around the fireplace and refreezing it as it touched.

"Hmm." Erik looked at this like a teacher grading your homework. "It works, but I was wondering if you could refreeze just the snow." He pointed to some wet snow by the door to her room, "Over there. without freezing the floor."

She got up and went over by the door. She swirled her hands around twice and then pointed at the snow. More appeared on top, but it was clearly visible that the snow underneath had refrozen and stopped melting. "How's that?" She asked, hoping she had improved.

"Better." He said approvingly. Olaf knocked and then opened the door, followed by Kai, carrying the things Erik requested.

"Ah, Danke." Erik used his powers to grab all the metal: fireplace crane, cast iron kettle, and tools. He drove the ends of the support pole into floor and wall inside the fireplace. He set the large kettle hanging from the crane arm, and used the fireplace shovel to start digging snow out of the fireplace and into the kettle. As soon as enough was cleared, a fire was started to dry the wood, and the snow melted very quickly. The rest of the afternoon was spent shoveling snow into the kettle to be boiled off. Erik had Elsa practice refreezing snow that wasn't in the fireplace. Several times she made more, but each time was less and less until she was able to restore her snow to a frozen state by waving her hand over it. After the third time of not making more snow, she looked at her hands and smiled. She could do this. She could learn control, and Erik would help her. She smiled at him. Everything was going to be better now.

{{{Author's Note}}}

As I was writing this and wondering how Erik would handle a 9 yr old, I thought back to what I knew of the Holocaust. My mother had a strong interest in it when I was growing up. Despite having dyslexia, she got a degree in teaching and wrote more than one paper on the subject. I would read to her when the reading hurt her eyes too much. Families were kept apart a lot, and I imagine Erik being kept with other children, at least for a while, and I would like to imagine him having the temperament to try to help those younger than him to cope, probably as a way of coping himself. When we grow up, we don't always consciously remember why we know how to do certain things, we just do them, and so helping Elsa as her own powers kept frightening her would start to come naturally to him pretty quickly.


End file.
